The Skinny: Tampa Bay 4, Isles 2

"The Skinny"  

By Eric Hornick

Semi-Finals Game 2

Tampa Bay 4, Isles 2

Best-of-7 series tied, 1-1

For the third straight series, the Isles are heading home with a split of the first two games.  Ondrej Palat broke a 1-1 tie in the middle period and the Lightning added a pair of goals in the third period as Tampa Bay earned the split with a 4-2 victory over the Isles before a crowd of 14,771 at Amalie Arena in Tampa. 

Nikita Kucherov had three assists, given him 17 in this year's playoffs. It is that seventh time in his playoff career that Kucherov has had at least three helpers  Kucherov, who had a franchise-record 27 helpers in The Bubble,  has more assists than any other player in this series has points.

Game Three will be on Thursday at the Nassau Coliseum. 

The Scoring: 

1st Period

Brayden Point (10) Nikita Kucherov (15), David Savard (1) 08:58  NYI 0,TBL 1

Brock Nelson (7) 13:30 NYI 1,TBL 1 PPG

2nd Period

Ondrej Palat (3) Nikita Kucherov (16), Victor Hedman (12) 13:15 NYI 1,TBL 2

3rd Period

Jan Rutta (1) Barclay Goodrow (1), Blake Coleman (4) 02:16 NYI 1,TBL 3

Victor Hedman (1) Nikita Kucherov (17), Steven Stamkos (9) 09:17 NYI 1,TBL 4 PPG

Mathew Barzal (5) Jordan Eberle (7), Nick Leddy (6) 16:44 NYI 2,TBL 4

The Series (Series tied, 1-1)

Game 1: Isles 2, Tampa Bay 1 

Game 2: Tampa Bay 4, Isles 2

Game 3: Thursday at Isles 

Game 4: Saturday at Isles 

Game 5: 6/21 at Tampa Bay

Game 6: 6/23 at Isles  (if needed)

Game 7: 6/25 at Tampa Bay (if needed)

All remaining games in this series are 8:00 starts.

The Skinny 

The Isles are 4-5 in game 2's under Barry Trotz …The Isles have played 44 playoff games under Barry Trotz; only Boston (48) has played more in that span… Ondrej Palat scored the only goal of the middle period; the Isles have outscored opponents 19-9 in the second period… The loss ended an Islander four-game playoff win streak… Tampa Bay defensemen had two goals in the third period; it was the first two goals for the Tampa defense in this year's playoffs…Mathew Barzal has scored five times in the last six games… The Isles lead the playoffs with 47 goals and are 2nd to Colorado in goals per game (3.36 to 3.80); the other three teams remaining in the playoffs all have a lower goals against per game average that the Isles' 2.71…The Isles had 40 hits; it is the seventh time in this year's playoffs that the Isles have had a 40-hit game…Ryan Pulock has four goals in the playoffs, including three game-winners, after scoring only twice in the regular season… The Isles had scored first in the last six playoff games against Tampa Bay before tonight…The Isles have yet to have a lead after the first period in any game in this year's playoffs…The Isles have outscored their opponents 33-26 in 5-on-5 play…Tampa Bay improves to 12-0 in the game following a loss over the last two post-seasons…Victor Hedman now has 9 career playoff goals vs. the Isles; only four defensemen in NHL history have had more career playoff goals vs. a single opponent…Brayden Point extended his goal streak to five games (matching Palat's club record) with his league-leading 10th goal; Nikita Kucherov extended his assist streak to five games…There were 54 penalty minutes assessed, including 33 to the Isles.

The Injuries:

• Semyon Varlamov missed the final 6:50 of the first period in concussion protocol following a collision with Brayden Point

• JG Pageau did not play the final 13:32; Barry Trotz explained post-game that he had "tweaked something".

First Time in a Long Time

• Jan Rutta's third period goal was his first 72 games (regular season/playoffs), dating back to 2019.

First Time for Everything 

• Brock Nelson is the first post-Dynasty Islander to crack the club's playoff  top 10 in goals, assists or points. Nelson passed Duane Sutter for 10th place with his 23rd goal

 

Most Wins After Allowing the First Goal (Isles)

• 8 1980 

• 6 1977

• 6 1993

• 5 2021

• 5 1981 

• 5 1983 

• 5 1984

Brock Best

Brock Nelson has 23 playoff goals for the Islanders, more than any Isles in the 2000s:

• Brock Nelson 23

• Josh Bailey 15

• Anthony Beauvillier 14

• Mathew Barzal 12

• Jordan Eberle 12

• J-G Pageau 11

• John Tavares 11

• Cal Clutterbuck 9

Nelson's 23 goals are 9th in Islander history, one ahead of Duane Sutter and one behind Brent Sutter.  The nine players ahead of Nelson won a combined 34 Stanley Cup rings for the Isles.  Nelson has scored more playoffs goals for the Isles than any other US-born player.

Hey, Josh Bailey!

Josh Bailey has 34 playoff assists for the Islanders, more than any Isles in the 2000s:

• Josh Bailey 34

• Mathew Barzal 23

• Jordan Eberle 21

• Nick Leddy 18

• Brock Nelson 17

• Ryan Pulock 13

• Anthony Beauvillier 13

• JG Pageau 13

Bailey's 34 assists are good for 11th in Islander history and are one assist shy of Brent Sutter's 10th place total (35).  The ten players ahead of Bailey won a combined 38 Stanley Cup rings for the Isles. 

Bailey also has 49 playoff points for the Islanders, more than any Isles in the 2000s:

• Josh Bailey 49

• Brock Nelson 40

• Mathew Barzal 35

• Jordan Eberle 33

• Anthony Beauvillier 27

• J-G Pageau 24

• Nick Leddy 23

• John Tavares 22

Bailey 49 points are 12th in Islander history and are three points shy of Duane Sutter's 11th place total (52).  The eleven players ahead of Bailey won a combined 42 Stanley Cup rings for the Isles.   

Hometown Hero

Kyle Palmieri has seven goals in 14 games this spring, matching Anthony Beauvillier and J-G Pageau's total through 14 games last summer. No Isle has scored more goals in the first 14 games of a playoff year since Ray Ferraro (13 in 1993).

Only five players have scored more goals for the Isles in their first playoff run with the team:

• Ray Ferraro 13 (1993)

• Steve Thomas 9 (1993)

• Patrick Flatley 9 (1984)

• JG Pageau 8 (2020)

• JP Parise 8 (1975)

Young Mr. Dobson

Noah Dobson is the second defenseman in Isles history to record at least seven playoff assists before his 22nd birthday.  You may remember the other: Denis Potvin had nine assists in 17 games in 1975. 

With seven assists, Dobson is one behind Ryan Pulock and Devon Toews' total of eight assists last summer for the most by an Islander defenseman in a single post-season in the Post-Cup Era.

• Ryan Pulock 8 (2020) 

• Devon Toews 8 (2020)

• Noah Dobson 7 (2021)

• Roman Hamrlik 6 (2002)

• Dennis Vaske 6 (1993)

• Vladimir Malakhov 6 (1993)

Pageau, Pageau, Pageau

JG Pageau has ten assists this spring; it is the fourth-highest total  by an Islander in a single post-season in the Post-Cup Era.

• Josh Bailey 18 (2020) 

• Mathew Barzal 12 (2020) 

• Derek King 11 (1993)

• JG Pageau 10 (2021)

Familiar Foes

This is the fourth all-time playoff meeting between the teams:

• 2004- Conference Quarter-Finals. Tampa Bay won series 4 games to 1.

• 2016- 2nd Round. Tampa Bay won series 4 games to 1.

• 2020- Conference Finals. Tampa Bay won series 4 games to 2.

Heavy Hitters

Cal Clutterbuck leads all players in this year's playoffs with 71 hits, while Matt Martin is second with 69 and Leo Komarov is fourth with 58 hits.  The Isles lead all teams with 581.

Barry and Al

Barry Trotz is only the 2nd coach to lead the Isles to multiple series wins, joining Al Arbour.  Terry Simpson and Jack Capuano are the only other coaches to lead the Isles to a playoff series victory.  Trotz has won a playoff series in seven consecutive years (four with Washington and three with the Isles).  Arbour did that from 1979-1985 (all with Isles) – no one had done it since, until Trotz came along.

Lou and Bill

Lou Lamoriello's win vs. Boston was his 31st playoff series win as a General Manager, which is second all-time to Glen Sather (41).  Bill Torrey is third with 28 playoff series wins. 

Led/Tied/Trailed

Game 1: Led: 27:28, Tied: 32:32, Trailed: 0:00

Game 2: Led: 0:00, Tied 28:43, Trailed 31:17

Series: Led: 27:28, Tied: 61:15, Trailed: 31:17

Vs Boston:   Led:  105:51, Tied: 197:54, Trailed: 74:39

Vs. Pittsburgh Led: 66:48, Tied: 158:11, Trailed: 177:22

Total: Led: 199:07, Tied: 417:20, Trailed: 283:18

Playoffs All-Time

The Isles fall to 170-138 in 308 all-time playoff games.  They are 94-52 at home (86-43 at the Coliseum, 2-5 at Barclays, 5-2 in Toronto and 1-2 in Edmonton) and 76-86 on the road. In this year's playoffs, the Isles are 4-2 at home and 5-3 on the road.  

Coach Trotz

Barry Trotz is second among active coaches, trailing only Joel Quenneville, in both wins and games. Trotz' NHL record is 877-635-60-158 in 1,730 games. 

Most Coaching Wins

1. Scotty Bowman  1,244

2. Joel Quenneville  962

3. Barry Trotz    877

Most Games Coached

1. Scotty Bowman   2,141

2. Joel Quenneville 1,761

3. Barry Trotz        1,730

Coach Trotz (Playoffs)

Barry Trotz has now coached 157 playoff games (81-76).  His 157 games is 10th all-time (Mike Babcock is 9th with 164) while his 81 wins are one behind Toe Blake for 11th.  Trotz won the Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018; Joel Quenneville (3) and Mike Sullivan (2) are the only active coaches with multiple Stanley Cups.

Most Playoff Coaching Wins (active coaches)

1. Joel Quenneville 121

2. Darryl Sutter 89

3. Barry Trotz  81

4. Alain Vigneault 78

Most Playoff Games Coached (active coaches)

1. Joel Quenneville 225

2. Darryl Sutter 170

3. Barry Trotz  157

4. Alain Vigneault 155

Most playoff wins by Islander coaches:

• Al Arbour 119

• Barry Trotz 26

• Jack Capuano 10

• Terry Simpson 9

• Peter Laviolette 4

• Ted Nolan 1

• Steve Stirling 1

Most playoff games coached (Islanders):

• Al Arbour 198

• Barry Trotz 44

• Jack Capuano 24

• Terry Simpson 20

• Peter Laviolette 12

• Steve Stirling 5

• Ted Nolan 5

Most overtime wins/overtime record:

• Al Arbour 26 (26-9)

• Barry Trotz 6 (6-6)

• Jack Capuano 4 (4-5)

• Terry Simpson 3 (3-0)

• Peter Laviolette 0 (0-1)

• Steve Stirling 0 (0-1)

Most game 7 wins/game seven record)

• Al Arbour 4 (2-2)

• Terry Simpson 2 (1-1)

• Barry Trotz 1 (1-0)

• Jack Capuano 0 (0-1)

• Peter Laviolette 0 (0-1)

Most playoff series wins:

• Al Arbour 29

• Barry Trotz 6

• Jack Capuano 1

• Terry Simpson 1

First Things First

The Isles are 4-1 when scoring first and are 5-4 when allowing the first goal in the playoffs.

The Shots

Isles      10-7-9=26   

Tampa Bay  17-8-8=33

Shots by Game

• Game 1: Isles 31, Tampa Bay 31

• Game 2: Isles 26, Tampa Bay 33

• Series: Isles 57, Tampa Bay 64

• Vs. Boston: Isles 172, Boston 221

• Vs: Pittsburgh: Isles 188, Pittsburgh 231

• Total Isles 417, Opponents 516

The Isles are 2-1 when they outshoot their opponents, 1-0 when the shots are even and 6-4 when they are outshot. 

In the Nets

Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves but falls to 5-4 in the 2021 playoffs and 29-24 in his playoff career.  

Ilya Sorokin stopped all six shots that he faced in the final 6:50 of the first period.

 

Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves and improves to 9-4 in this year's playoffs and 42-26 in his career. 

 

Power Plays

The Isles were 1-4 on the power play in 6:20 of PP time; Tampa Bay was 1-5 on the power play in 9:08 of PP time.  

Power Plays by Game

• Game 1: Isles 0-3 (6:00, 5 shots), Tampa Bay 1-2 (2:44, 4 shots)

• Game 2: Isles 1-4 (6:20, 7 shots), Tampa Bay 1-5 (9:08, 8 shots)

• Series: Isles 1-7 (12:20, 12 shots), Tampa Bay 2-7 (11:52, 12 shots)

• Vs. Boston: Isles 6-16 (27:39, 23 shots), Boston 7-14 (19:44, 28 shots)

• Vs. Pittsburgh: Isles 3-16 (27:00, 15 shots), Pittsburgh 3-12 (18:54, 19 shots)

• Total: Isles 10-39 (66:59, 50 shots), Opponents 12-33 (50:30, 59 shots)

Three is a Magic Number

The Isles are 8-1 in the playoffs (5-1 in regulation and 3-0 in overtime) when they score at least three goals and 1-4 when they do not. 

Shutting the Door

The Isles are 5-2 when allowing two or fewer goals in this year's playoffs.  

One Goal Games

The Isles are 5-3 in the playoffs in one-goal games (2-2 in regulation and 3-1 in overtime). The Isles are 1-0 in playoff games where an empty-net goal turns a 1-goal game into a 2-goal game.

Ice-time Leaders

Isles: Nick Leddy (22:44);  Tampa Bay: Ryan McDonagh (24:05)

Mathew Barzal led Isles forwards with 18:22 of ice-time 

Isles record by ice-time leader: Adam Pelech (3-0), Nick Leddy (2-3), Ryan Pulock (2-2), Scott Mayfield (2-0)

Face-offs

Isles 27, Tampa Bay 24 (53%)  

Brock Nelson won 8 of 11 for the Isles; Steven Stamkos won 5 of 6 for Tampa Bay. 

Face-offs by Game

• Game 1: Isles 28, Tampa Bay 18 (61%)

• Game 2: Isles 27, Tampa Bay 24 (53%)

• Series: Isles 55, Tampa Bay 42 (56%)

• Vs. Boston: Isles 165, Boston 168 (49%)

• Vs. Pittsburgh: Isles 181, Pittsburgh 164 (52%)

• Total: Isles 401, Opponents 374 (52%)

Hit Count

Isles 37 (Ryan Pulock -7)

Tampa Bay 32 (Barclay Goodrow -6)

Hits Game by Game:

• Game 1: Isles 40, Tampa Bay 41 

• Game 2: Isles 37, Tampa Bay 32

• Series: Isles 77, Tampa Bay 73

• Vs. Boston Isles 231, Boston 221

• Vs: Pittsburgh: Isles 273, Pittsburgh 224

• Total: Isles 581, Opponent 518

Blocked Shots

Isles 16 (Nick Leddy -3)

Tampa Bay 8 (Two with 2)

For the Analytics Crowd 

Corsi: All situations: Isles 44, Tampa Bay 57 

Scratches

(Anders Lee), (Oliver Wahlstrom), Cory Schneider, Sebastian Aho, Braydon Coburn, Kieffer Bellows, Ross Johnston, Michael Dal Colle, Thomas Hickey, Austin Czarnik

Playoff games lost: 24

Post-Season Late Heroes (Final Two Minutes of Regulation, or Overtime)

• Kyle Palmieri (16:30 of OT on 5/16 vs. Pittsburgh – Game 1)

• Josh Bailey (20:51 of OT on 5/24 vs. Pittsburgh – Game 5)

• Casey Cizikas (14:48 of OT on 5/31 vs. Boston – Game 2)

Post-Season Late Goals Allowed

• Brad Marchand (3:36 of OT on 6/3 vs. Boston – Game 3)

Playoff Challenges

• Isles: Lost a goalie interference challenge (6/5 vs Boston; Bruins did not score on subsequent PP)

• Opponents: None

Most Overtime Wins in a Series

• 3 vs. Washington (1993)

• 3 vs. Florida (2016)

• 2 vs. Toronto (1978)

• 2 vs. Rangers (1979)

• 2 vs. Boston (1980)

• 2 vs. Philadelphia (1980)

• 2 vs. New Jersey (1988)

• 2 vs. Pittsburgh (2021)

Overtime is Our Time

The Isles are 39-22 (.639) all-time in overtime, including 19-13 at home. The Isles are 3-1 in overtime this season; they have gone 10-9 in nineteen overtime games since 2015. 

Overtime vs. Tampa Bay

The Isles are 1-4 all-time in playoff overtime games vs. Tampa Bay; the goals vs. Martin St. Louis and Anthony Cirelli clinched series and the Lightning went on to win the Stanley Cup.   

 

04/16/04 @ Martin St. Louis L TB 00:04:07 Tampa

05/03/16 Vs Brian Boyle L TB 00:02:48 Brooklyn

05/06/16 Vs Jason Garrison L TB 00:01:34 Brooklyn

09/15/20 @ Jordan Eberle W TB 00:32:30 Edmonton

09/17/20 Vs Anthony Cirelli L TB 00:13:18 Edmonton

Active Islander Playoff Leaders: (As NYI)

Games:

Matt Martin 68

Josh Bailey 66

Casey Cizikas 64

Nick Leddy 62

Brock Nelson 62

Consecutive Games

Matt Martin 68

Nick Leddy 62

Brock Nelson 57

Goals:

Brock Nelson 23

Josh Bailey 15

Anthony Beauvillier 14

Jordan Eberle 12

Mathew Barzal 12

J-G Pageau 11

Cal Clutterbuck 9

Anders Lee 8

Kyle Palmieri 7

Ryan Pulock 7

Assists:

Josh Bailey 34

Mathew Barzal 23

Jordan Eberle 21

Nick Leddy 18

Brock Nelson 17

Ryan Pulock 13

Anthony Beauvillier 13

J-G Pageau 13

Points:

Josh Bailey 49

Brock Nelson 40

Mathew Barzal 35

Jordan Eberle 33

Anthony Beauvillier 27

J-G Pageau 24

Nick Leddy 23

Ryan Pulock 20

Penalty Minutes:

Matt Martin 90

Cal Clutterbuck 64

Casey Cizikas 44

PP Goals

Anthony Beauvillier 4

Mathew Barzal 4

Jordan Eberle 4

Ryan Pulock 3

Josh Bailey 3

Anders Lee 3

Brock Nelson 3 

Nick Leddy 1

Oliver Wahlstrom 1

Nick Leddy 1

Kyle Palmieri 1

SH Goals

Josh Bailey 1

 

GW Goals

Brock Nelson 7

Ryan Pulock 3

Anthony Beauvillier 3

Jordan Eberle 3

Josh Bailey 3

Mathew Barzal 2

Thomas Hickey 1

Leo Komarov 1

Andy Greene 1

Scott Mayfield 1

Kyle Palmieri 1

Casey Cizikas 1

OT Goals 

Josh Bailey 2

Mathew Barzal 1

Thomas Hickey 1

Jordan Eberle 1

Kyle Palmieri 1

Casey Cizikas 1

Goaltending

Semyon Varlamov 16-10  2.29 GAA, .922 save percentage

Ilya Sorokin 4-1 2.28 GAA, .936 save percentage

(Varlamov's 16 wins place him third in club history, behind Billy Smith (88) and Chico Resch (17).  Among goalies who have played at least ten post-season games, Varly has the best goals against average and the best save percentage in club history.)

UP NEXT

THURSDAY, JUNE 17th  – TAMPA BAY AT ISLANDERS– 8:00pm 

[USA Network, WRHU 88.7 FM, WRCN 103.9FM, ESPN 98.7FM; Pre-Game and Post-Game coverage on MSG+]

The Coliseum will host its first Conference Final/Semifinal game in 28 years as the Isles host Tampa Bay in Game 3.

The Bolts are 4-0 in "true" playoff road games against the Isles, winning both games in 2004 (Coliseum) and in 2016 (Barclays).  The Isles earned the victory in game 3 in The Bubble. 

The Isles are 11-10 in 21 previous series that are tied 1-1, while Tampa Bay 11-6 in 17 previous series.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since January 21, 1982. Information contained in "The Skinny" has been gathered from various sources.  Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter & on his blog www.nyiskinny.com.

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick